is it necessary to properly eject

[DMSmillie]

Originally Posted by cybmole

not quite - as discussed elsewhere in related threads, you can try that in Windows 7 but it does not actually break the connection i.e. the K3 continues to show it's connected screen, and the K3 drive still appears as an available drive in My computer window.

the only operation that removes it fully - so that you can switch it on & read while it continues to charge - is to go the My computer select drive right click select eject route.

Your initial post referred to unplugging the Kindle, not leaving it plugged in to continue charging while you use it. And using the system tray to select "safely remove" will disconnect the Kindle as far as file read/write operations go, so that it can be safely unplugged from the PC without risking corrupting the file system.

Originally Posted by cybmole

is it really necessary to properly eject the K via my computer before unplugging the USB cable ,
or is it safe to just pull the plug once all transfers are complete ?

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by Tiersten

Pretty much all keyboards have the context menu key now anyway. Totally saves you 1 keystroke instead of doing shift F10

found it - thanks - have had the keyboard for years & never knew what that strange button to the right of the space bar actually did, until now ! that's going to be really useful in lots of circumstances.

[speedlever]

Son-of-a-gun. I never even noticed that key before!